Ah… it’s great to have one’s expectations met. Or better yet, exceeded. And this disc does both. I’m sat listening to it as I type. And it’s just fantastic!
The excellent little booklet that comes with this expanded re-release album features numerous images from the contact sheets of the boys playing at the venue. And also, rather wonderfully, this:
I think there are fourty-four numbers in this three set odyssey! Talk about an embarrassment of riches. And the list is annotated, presumably in relation to notes made on listening back to recordings.
One thing that makes a striking contrast with The Contenders, who I looked at and listened to briefly recently, ‘cause Walt and Champ were involved, is how the original contributions by all three members of UWB are uniformly brilliant. Whereas I didn’t like the non-UWB contributions to The Contenders.*
I love all three of the guys! They’re beautiful, talented, soulful. The works. Deschamp Hoods’ stuff I find particularly beguiling. He does a Bach thing with David, on his ‘feature’ spot (not on this disc), and his ‘Mock, Mock, Mockingbird’ here is stupendous.
David Ball, the lone survivor of the trio, went on to solo success. Walt and Champ both kept up musical endeavours, on the fringes of success/recognition. Rather sadly, Champ Hood was working on his only solo project as leader – Bon Haven – when he passed. I must get it.
And, with perfect synchronicity, we hit another Hood original – ‘The More I See You’ – right on cue! It’s great that Lyle Lovett championed these guys. There’s a bit of Lovett stuff on YouTube with Walt and Champ as featured guests.
To my mind the only ‘immortal soul’ aspect of life – and it’s not some kind of ectoplasmic entity – is how we may or may not, as Napoleon rightly observed, live on in history, via the monuments we leave behind, and the memories that live on in others.
And what monuments these three have left behind! Playing as I type is the utterly gorgeous lightly jazzy ballad ‘Desiree’. I usually loathe arco bass in jazz and folk, etc (often horribly out of tune!). In this track David bows his bass, and Champ plays fiddle… and it’s sublime!
I might go back and amend some of these UWB star ratings to six. I can’t say how much I love this stuff. Cannot recommend these cats enough!
* Ironically, having said this, there’s a track on here, ‘Snowing Me Under’, credited to Steve Runkle, which is brilliant.
FOOTNOTE:
This already brilliant CD ends with a beautiful track by Brazilian composer Moacir Santos. I’ve heard this track dissed as MOR elsewhere online. Couldn’t disagree more. I love the music of Brazil. And it’s clear Walt and co. did too. Way to go, guys!